and living life one day- and book- at a time
Nurses, Police, and Teachers can tell you that things go crazy when there is a full moon. The energy kind of ramps up a bit, and usually chaos follows closely behind. But what if there isn’t a full moon in sight? Friday, on my way to work, I listened to my grandson in the back …
Teaching. From the time I was little, I was always teaching. I would teach my brother while he was trapped in his playpen. I would line up my dolls and play school. I always wanted to teach someone something. It seemed to be who I was. When I was an adult, I took a survey …
Two months ago I was diagnosed at the age of 53 with ADHD. Upon speaking with other adults, it’s not something that is unusual. Much of our symptoms are combined with other things such as anxiety, stress, and our mental health that many doctors fail to realize that perhaps those things are a direct correlation …
There is a clear difference between children and adults in how they handle put downs. I think if it came down to it, I’d be more upset over another colleague saying something than I would a student. It’s how we handle conflict. As an adult, you begin to master the art of “oh well.” Lately, …
In my classroom, the switch to discontinue lecture and teaching specific texts for teaching reading skills. Prior to this year, I had taught through lecture, and while I was secondary certified, I was comfortable with teaching certain pieces of literature. I thought that was what ELA was all about. I could use specific pieces of …
One of the benefits to our school district changing over to a year round schedule (not really year round, but close) is that it offers an opportunity for a long week and a half break after each 9 weeks. The good thing is that you can relax and rejuvenate yourself before starting another 9 weeks. …
I realized recently that there is a huge discrepancy between when I first taught this unit and now. The discrepancy is that my students then could read, and if they couldn’t, they sure had me fooled. As I stood at the front of the classroom with my copy of the article in my hand and …
This week I started teaching my anti-bullying unit. It’s one that I developed after going to a professional development, and because it is mine- and a topic that is close to my heart- I love teaching this unit. I wanted to find a way to incorporate our informational text in with a novel study, and …
Today as I was sitting in a meeting with my fellow co-workers, I realized that perhaps my patience -the patience of a saint- isn’t a gift after all. Perhaps maybe it is a flaw. It’s no secret that this year’s group of students have tested that patience. The patience that I pride myself for having. …
My Anti-Bullying Thematic Unit is now available on Teacher-Pay-Teachers. I will be starting this unit with my kiddos in 2 weeks. Follow along as I show you how I adapt this unit for all of my student needs from Honors to my struggling readers.